Hunt of the Outcast
DJ VN? 5 Yes 0 No ...Kay. 7 Serious VN? 0 Not Serious VN? You lie curled, your head on your mother's lap. "Had another bad dream, darling?" She coos as she strokes your hair 4 "Mm-hmn" 3 "Nn-nn" She kisses you softly on the forehead. "Monsters this time? Vampires? Witches?" Her soft smile comforts you, and looking into her eyes makes you feel as if you're looking into a mirror. 1 "Vampires" 2 "Monsters" 3 "Witches" She laughs gently, and strokes your hair again. "They're scary, aren't they? Strong, mysterious, and dangerous." She stops stroking, and looks away from you, to her dresser. "Do you know what a Hunter is, babe?" She places her hand on yours 3 "Un-uhn" 3 "Uh-huh" "They're the ones that protect us from witches, monsters, vampires, demons..." Her gaze wanders to a ring on her dresser. "They're always watching over us...." 0 RRRRRRRRRNGGGGG... fuck my alarm 5 RRRRRRNNNNGGGRRRRRNNGGG OhfuckamIlateforclass? You bolt up, and stare around the room. There's no light seeping through the cracks in your venetian blinds, and you look at your alarm clock. 4AM. Must've set the alarm wrong again. 0 Go back to sleep 5 Get up early You grab your bra from your nightstand and put it on. Freeboobs are best boobs unless you're moving around. Heading down the hallway outside your room, you peer into your mother's room. She's sleeping soundly. 2 Head down and watch the telly 5 Head out for a walk You tie your shoulder length hair down behind your head in a messy ponytail, and tap on your shoes. You look up the stairs one last time, and then head out. 0 Up the street, to Cail's house 6 Down to the bakery, fresh bread! You walk, arms held tight around you because of the cold breeze that's shaking this autumn morning. You follow the sweet smell of slightly burnt grain, yeast, and sugar, until you come to a certain bakery, that's just barely visible from the road. 0 "Knock knock, LuLu here!" 5 Enter without notice You tiptoe in, hoping to get past the register before... "Isn't it a bit early for you to be hungry, Lucina?" A lanky man of middle age drops a basket on you, startling you and knocking you off balance. 1 "MrhphIwokeupearly" 4 Dust yourself off. "No, a lady is always in need of sustenance" At that, a loaf of sweetbread the size of your face plops into your lap. "There's ham in the cafe fridge, cheese is behind the counter. Don't eat too much or I'll charge ya, runt." The busy baker briskly steps off towards his array of ovens 0 "Thanks a bunch, Belen!" 4 "If it comes to that, I'll just babysit, as always, right?" You eat as you always do, whenever you wake up this early. You've always been hungrier than any girl you know, and most boys. You polish off the last few morsels, and wash it all down with black coffee. Looking up at the store clock, you notice that it's just about time to leave. You clean your dishes and head for the door 0 "Thanks for breakfast again, and tell Gera I'll see her after I get out of class!" 4 Leave silently The morning goes by as it always does. You leave before mom gets up, you get to school, and have no one to really talk to. Really, you do, but you don't say much deeper than "Oh hi" or "How's ____?" Its all routine... maybe today you'll... 3 Ditch class, have an adventure! 1 Stay in school. You >might< learn something During lunch, you hatch your plan. You climb down the side of the school building who's roof is closest to the ground. You're pretty well built, like your mother once was, but it's still tough. Reaching the ground, you jump, land, and dust off your pants. You feel a hand touch your back as you stand... 3 ROUNDHOUSE KICK 2 Freeze and turn slowly. You execute the maneuver, and knock whoever was touching you to the ground. Taking a closer look at the crumpled body behind you... 0 "C-Cail! I'm so sorry!" 5 "Oh, it's you. Why do you suck so much, Cail?" "L...L...Luci...all I wanted to do was..." His acting is terrible, but he's your friend (kinda). You help him up, and rub the section of his face that now has your foot imprinted into it. 3 "Why aren't you in class?" 1 "Wanted to join me?" "I saw you leaving, so I went out the front door. You know that they don't stop you, right?" You feel like a fucking moron. 4 "Yes." 0 "No." "Always taking the hard way out..." You and him end up wandering off campus, and decide to go back to your place. After all, you have the bigger TV. And more stuff. 4 Play My Little Assassin Can't Be This Deadly on the GammaBox in your room 0 Play A Certain Overpowered Spartan on the PlayKiosk 2 in the living room You pick up where you left off, with Cail watching you hope gracefully from building to building, try to save your Onii-chan. But before long, it's time for Cail's ass to go home, since he's scared of what his parents will do if he's caught not coming home on time. 1 Take a nap 3 Keep playing You finally get to the point where you kill Kuroneko Borgia- ah yes, that was satisfying. Happy with your progress, you shut the GammaBox off, and plop onto your bed. Your eyes wander to the ring your mother once wore, a memento of your father. Who was he, anyway? Mother doesn't talk about him much... 3 Go grab the ring 0 Leave it be The ring is small, with a pretty opaque red jewel seated in the center. It looks natural, uncut, and strangely has always been warm to the touch. You hold it tightly, hoping maybe to glean some knowledge of it's prior owner. 1 "Dad...." 4 "..." Fall asleep You wake up... in your own dream. It's like when you were a kid. There's a swirling miasma... but it's different. It's red, hot, and absolutely uncomfortable 0 But this time, you're not immobile. You get up, and wander around. 0 You step around splintered wood, then what you assume are musket balls. 0 The debris slowly upgrade into more complete rifles, cannons, and wooden pistols. 0 You start to climb a mountain of uncomfortably hot weaponized debris. 0 Tired (in your own dream?), you collapse, lying on the pile of wood and steel. 0 "You smell like your father, kid." A red hand pierces the miasma around you. 0 Taking it, you're lifted up to your feet. 0 You stare at a seated woman... no, she's all red and has horns crowning her angular face. 0 "And what brings you to my personal hell, Lucina Auctor, daughter of Coletell Auctor?" 1 The Hunt of the Outcast / Chapter 1 / TBC